Your Hand In Mine

- Shane -

"Superstar is in the house! The party can officially start!" Max announced while whipping open my apartment door with two six packs in his hands and dinosaur footed pajamas on his body.

The boys declared that it was 'movie night' tonight at my house before they went on a seven day road trip tomorrow. Max thought it would be a good idea to wear pajamas too so we'd "be more comfy". It was sort of interesting, actually. Jordan couldn't find any that fit him, so he ended up wearing a dark green robe and plaid pants. He looked like one of those old people in movies that sit by the fire with their glasses at the tip of their noses reading a book. I told Billy that he should be wearing Jordan's outfit instead of his--a black footed one with flames--because he's the oldest. He ignored my comment and said that I did a good job picking out mine because of all the pink and crowns. I swear, I didn't do it on purpose; it was the only one they had left.

Kris had on long sleeves and pants with race cars on them. Geno, I think he was a bit confused--possibly about his gender. He had on one of those silky dress things from Victoria's Secret, in pink. I think it might be his girlfriend's, but I'm not sure. The guy also had a matching sleeping mask and pink fuzzy slippers. It was absolutely hilarious. He's like, over six foot tall, he's got these muscular arms, no ass, and hairy legs. Close your eyes and picture it. Yeah, I'd say he was confused. Anyway, Marc-André was wearing footed cheetah print pajamas, and Brian, who jumped at the opportunity to come, was wearing a pink t-shirt and pants with red hearts on them.

"Remind me again why he was invited?" I asked Sidney, who was standing to my right with a bottle of water. Sid had on a big yellow shirt with Spongebob's face on it and blue pants with little Spongebob's. He was also wearing some sick Pineapple slippers.

"No idea. But I kind of want to know where he got those from," he said, referring to Max's pajamas while he let out a laugh--not a I'm-trying-to-be-nice laugh, either. It was the kind of laugh where his face gets all scrunched up, his smile gets really big, his eyes look like little slits, and he sounds like a little girl when he talks through it. It'd be nice to see him act like that more often instead of the robot he becomes in front of the media. But props to him, he handled it well.

I shook my head at the captain as I walked off to go sit next to Kris. I plopped down on the chair next to him and followed the direction of his eyes--Geno. The guy was throwing back shot after shot, along with Jordan. He should know better than to challenge a Russian to a drinking game.

"That's insane," I stated, wide eyed at the amount of alcohol Geno was consuming.

"They 'ave been doing this for at least five minute," Kris told me.

"How do you play this shit? Back in the day when I was youngster we played Mario Brothers, and Pacman.. Jong," Bill said, grabbing one of the Xbox controllers and pressing as many buttons as fast as he could.

"Showing your age, aren't you, Gramps?"

"You just wait, Princess. One day you'll be as old as me."

"I sure as hell hope not," I mumbled, earning a chuckle from Kris.

"I say we watch a movie," he said.

"I say," I paused, trying to think of some way to answer him. "I agree," I laughed. I walked over to the TV, where Max was blowing up planes and making serious sound effects, and stood right in front of the screen.

"Dude, what the hell? MOVE!" Maxime shouted at me while he swayed his head around me, trying to see the game. I mirrored his motions, and he eventually paused the game. "What?" he said, obviously irritated.

"We're going put in a movie," I explained to him, along with everybody else. "And if you all can't decide, majority rules." They shot up from where they were standing, knocking over whoever was in their way as they rushed to my wall of movies. Flower even got beat with The Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets DVD case by Jordan because "he was taking way too fucking long."

We eventually decided to watch Jackass, even though most of us have seen it numerous times. Our seating arrangements were as follows: Kris, Max--who was downing beers left and right-- and Flower on the couch. Geno, Sidney, me, Brian on the floor right below the couch. And TK and Jordan on their stomachs directly in front of the screen. For a while, I watched Geno throw the Peanut M&M's he brought over at Tyler, and then TK would pile them up, wait a few minutes, then send a handful flying back at Evgeni. I think he called it Operation Fuck You Geno. Oh, and Billy had to take a raincheck so he could go take care of his sick little boy; we told him that we hoped his kid felt better and to try not to catch whatever he had.

We all sat there laughing like idiots at Knoxville, Steve-O and the other guys for about an hour and a half. With the exception of Sid, Kris, and I, everyone was on their way to getting trashed.

"TWISTER!" Flower shouted.

"Marc, I know this might be hard for you, but don't cry.. I don't think I have Twister," I stated. Actually, I think my brother might have destroyed it at one of our cousin's birthday parties.

"Have no fear, Marc is here!" he exclaimed, striking one of those body builder poses, and making us all crack up.

We got the mat all set up, assigned TK the job of being the spinner, then lined up on either side of the colored dots. Nine people playing Twister.. This ought to be good.

Tyler flicked the little black thing. "Right hand, red! Left hand, green." We all groaned. The dot was way on the other side. "Right foot, blue," he announced. Even better.

Some people just aren't flexible, therefore, they should not play Twister. Geno and Jordan specifically. Their height and lack of coordination didn't give them an advantage to begin with, but add some beers and vodka to that, and you get complete chaos. Jordan's limbs were going every which way, smacking us in the face, Geno had some issues with the colors at first, then he just couldn't stretch around everyone anymore; he had a shitty spot on the mat.

"I swear to God, Sid, if you rip one, I'm going to kill you," I heard Jordan semi-slur. Sidney let out a laugh. I looked over my right shoulder and saw Jordan's face parked right behind Sidney's ass. That must suck. "TK, spin the Goddamn thing!" Jordan hollered.

We blamed Max for large thud we caused when we lost our balance and fell to the ground, but he'd tell you otherwise. He sneezed, lost his balance, then toppled onto Marc-André, which created the Domino effect. Somehow, Brian was declared the winner.

We cleaned up the game then sat around and talked for a bit.

I forget who thought of the idea, but somehow we--not including Brian who also had to leave, but for work--were now driving to Cold Stone Creamery. Kris was driving, I was next to him, and Sid was behind me. The rest of the guys, they were sprawled out all over the car. Some were awake and trying to sing along to the radio but failing, while others--Max--were pretty much out cold. Geno, The Russian Drinking Machine was actually doing pretty good. He must've had experience.

"Where the fuck are we?" We heard Max call--so much for being asleep--then there was a thud.

"Don't even answer 'im, e is out cold again," Kris laughed, causing me to shake my head.. Only Max.

"Hey, is that Wendy's? I'm hungry," Maxime said minutes later, barely glancing out his window before his head crashed onto Geno's shoulder.

"Max, get head off arm," Geno said, trying to keep his eyes awake and pushing Max off him.

"Shut up, dickface. Hey! Where the fuck's my burger?" Max said before, once again, becoming quiet.

Those of us who could comprehend what was happening, laughed at the state Max was in. No wonder why Sid and Kris didn't drink; these guys were hilarious.

We drove for a few more minutes, before coming to a stop. "GO! GO! GO!" TK screamed. We didn't move. "Why the fuck aren't you going?"

"Are you color blind?" I asked. He didn't move or say anything. "It's red, dipshit," I told Tyler.

"No, it's not! It's green! Put your foot on the gas!"

"TK, you might understand why we aren't moving if you opened your eyes," I said.

He peeked one eye open, then the other. "Oh," he said, leaving his mouth in the shape of an 'o'.

"Yeah," I said, giving my head a quick nod before turning back around to face the front.

"So, who you guys playing when you leave tomorrow?" I asked to no one in particular.

"The Canes, Tampa, St. Louis, Blue Jackets, and uh..," Sidney informed me, trying to remember each team.

"Buffalo," Kris spoke up.

"That doesn't seem so bad. I think the Sabres would give you the most trouble. Ryan Miller, he's a beast."

"What about me?" Flower asked.

"You'll always be better than Ryan to me, don't worry."

"Oh, okay."

A few minutes later, Kris pulled into the parking lot and those of us who could walk, hopped out and went inside to get some ice cream.

"I'm not supposed to be eating this," Sid mentioned with worry in his voice like he was going to get into deep shit from his coach or something.

"Live a little," I smiled.

"Hi. What can I get you guys?" A guy around eighteen, maybe, asked the four us. We told him what flavor we wanted, and if we wanted it in a cup or cone. Me and Kris split a medium cup of birthday cake with the rainbow sprinkles; he let me pick it out, and I thought that was sweet of him. But I couldn't even tell you what the other two got.

We decided to stay inside and lick away our ice cream. There was only one other lady in here besides us and the people who worked here, so we had some privacy and the guys weren't continuously being asked for autographs. Once we were done, we headed back outside and found the four drunks asleep.

"I don't know 'ow they are going to get 'ome," Kris said as he started the car.

"I guess it's a good thing they're in their pajamas then."

"Why?" Sidney asked.

"Because they obviously can't drive home," I laughed.

"We can just leave them in the car or somet'ing," Kris said.

"But you guys have to get up and catch a plane tomorrow."

"We don't have to be at the airport until six at night," Sidney said.

"Oh. Well, since you don't have to get up early and it's getting pretty late, you guys can crash at my place if you want," I shrugged. Both Kris and Sid nodded their heads.

"Sleep over!? YES! I haven't gone to one since last weekend," Marc exclaimed.